When we built our deck a couple of years ago, it was hard sometimes not to feel that we were spending an awful lot of money to sit on wood two feet in the air, rather than the ground.

But having the deck has made all the difference in the way we use the back yard. Now I have a place to sit and watch the kids, and they have a place they can be outside when it is a little muddy.

I've also very much enjoyed having dinners on the deck. Tonight we had burgers and ate at our new picnic table.

I told Sam how cute I thought his freckles were.

He told me that I had a lot of cute pickles, too.